Obituary of Jeannette Gunn

Jeannette (Jeanne) D. Gunn , a woman devoted to her family, passed away at the Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington on Tuesday morning, August 23, 2011. She was 97 years. Jeanne was born in Haverhill, MA, the daughter of the late Arthur and Louise (Ledoux) Gilbert. She grew up during the Great Depression. At the age of 14, Jeanne had to leave school to go to work and help support the family. Her sacrifice did not stop her from her great love of literature. Jeanne often said, “As long as I have my books, I’m never alone”. She was extremely adept at crocheting, knitting, and painting, and her family and friends have many treasured gifts of the lovely items that she made for them. When living in Arlington, she was at first president, then secretary of the Drake Village Tenants Association. She enjoyed many trips and events with her friends there. She also traveled at various times to seven European countries, to Canada, Bermuda and Hawaii, and across the United States, and lived and worked in Las Vegas for many years. She was a member of the Nevada Culinary Union. Jeanne will be remembered as a quiet woman who was smart, funny, kind and generous with her time and talents. Her philosophy was, ‘Trust in God’, and she did just that. She was a very special lady and will always be remembered by her family and friends. Jeanne was the beloved wife of the late Gordon E. Gunn. She was the loving mother of Marilyn Keohane & her husband Joseph of Burlington, Richard G. Gunn of South Hamilton, and Linda J. Gunn of Billerica. Sister of the late Lorraine Leonard, Armand Gilbert, and Roland Gilbert & his wife Louise. Loving grandmother of Joseph D. Keohane and his wife Bethany of Tyngsboro, Anne L. Murphy of Tewksbury, Ellen J. Keohane of Worcester, Daniel G. Keohane of Princeton, Michael F. Keohane and his wife Kathleen of Shrewsbury, and Paul C. Keohane and his wife Holly of Oxford. She was “Mamere” to her great-grandchildren; Joseph and his wife Andrea Keohane, Taryn Keohane and her fiancé Kevin Terwiliger, Robert and Gregory Keohane, Derek and Erin Murphy, Andrew, Amanda and Audrey Keohane, Kaleigh, Michael, Colleen and Connor Keohane, and Sarah and Sean Keohane. Her many dear nieces and nephews will remember her as their ‘AJ’. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington on Thursday, August 25 at 11 a.m. Visiting hours will be held at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Thursday from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. Interment will be private. Memorials in Jeanne’s name may be made to the National MS Society, Central New England Chapter, 101A First Ave., Suite 6, Waltham, MA, 02451-1115 Eulogy for Jeanne Gunn by Ellen Keohane August 25, 2011 Good morning, My name is Ellen Keohane, and on behalf of my mother, Marilyn Keohane, my aunt Linda Gunn and my uncle Dick Gunn, thank you for being here and thanks for this opportunity to make some brief comments about Jeanne Gunn, Nana, A.J., Mamere, Mom. It is not easy to pick what to say in just a few minutes about a woman who lived 97 years. It seemed to me that there were two ways I could go. On the one hand, the Nana that most of us in this church know is someone who had settled into what might be called a simple life, having retired more than 35 years ago. But Jeanne did have her adventures. When we read about her extensive travels in her obituary a lot of us might be surprised. And I was tempted to focus on that kind of story because it maybe sounds more interesting. I could talk about when she and Linda moved to Las Vegas. She really enjoyed living there and working at the Flamingo Hotel. Or about Boston. Nana loved her years in Boston. She told me often about her best friend, who was apparently well off. They would go to dances. Her friend had a steady boyfriend who would bring along one of his friends to be Jeanne’s dates. Nana said they were all gentlemen-- very polite. One even fell for her. He was from New York and sent a tray of engagement rings up to her with a note to pick one. But she had just met Gordon, the brother of her friend and boss at the hair salon, Gladys, and had fallen in love with him. So she sent the rings back. So there are interesting stories to tell about Jeanne. But what about the second half of her nearly century-long life? It’s these later years of Nana’s life that I feel really have something to offer all of us today. I’ll tie it to something personal about me-- my name. My full name is Ellen Jean Keohane, after my two grandmothers, Ellen Keohane and Jeanne Gunn. Just as my brother Dan is named after our two grandfathers, Daniel and Gordon. I love having this name. If you ever have the privilege of naming someone in the future I recommend you look at is as a gift you can give that person. About 15 years ago I was made to think about Nana Gunn in a certain way that I’ll share that I’ve kept in my mind since. I was at an Easter Mass. The priest in his homily spoke about how we are lucky to have great figures in our life. Heroes. So names came to my mind such as Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jesus Christ and his mother, Mary. Certainly my grandmother, Ellen Keohane, was and remains a large figure in my extended family. I know, for example, that my sister, Anne, when faced with MS, asked herself, “what would Nana Keohane do?” and the answer provided strength and a sense of how to respond to an enormous challenge. Nana Keohane is one of my sister’s heroes. We all look to these people when the big things arise. But what I thought of at that time, listening to that sermon, was that we still need role models for the 90-something percent of the time when we don’t have huge challenges pressuring us. We’re just trying to do the best we can, living lovingly and faithfully to our families, our friends, our Church and our God, and ourselves. And I thought of Nana Gunn. She is a wonderful role model of those times “in between.” Jean is my middle name. Not my first name but my middle. She represents to me those times “in between” that make up most of my life. But it’s in those times that we most show our true character. It’s hard to find adjectives to describe how Nana lived her life because for the most part, especially in the later decades it was a very simple life. Although Nana would come up with some words, being the crossword puzzle genius that she was. The philosopher Nietzsche talked about this-- about how we don’t have language for these “middle” states, which are the most relevant to our lives and character. He said, “wrath, hate, love, compassion, craving, knowing, joy, pain-- these are all names for extreme states: the milder middle degrees, to say nothing of the lower ones which are constantly in play, elude us and yet it is precisely they that weave the web of our character and our destiny.” While we all want to rise up to our biggest challenges in life, the fact is that most of us spend a lot of time just living day-to-day-- working, in school, doing the usual routines. When each of us looks back on our life we’ll see that the real testament to who we each were as a person was how we were on that daily basis. Winston Churchill said that “character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.” Nana’s life reminds us that not only are we to be there for others in the most happy or challenging times, but we need to be sure the people around us know that we love them every day in between. Nana did that. She was present to her family, unconditionally accepting and loving each of us just as we were. No strings attached. She loved God and trusted God. She loved her family and friends and trusted them. She accepted the world around her and everything life presented to her, without fighting it. She held on to the good things and let the bad things go. Nana didn’t sweat the small stuff. She didn’t have a bad emotion in her heart. One might guess that this is part of why she lived so long. Nana wasn’t naive. She felt sorrow and pain and experienced tough times. But she held on only to the love and let the rest go, never holding a grudge. Up until very recently she talked about how handsome my grandfather was and how much she loved him. She accepted life. If she was in her great-grandchildren’s generation, she might say “It’s all good.” Nana loved her family and her response to us for a lot of what we might face would be simply “Love your family.” And we might be tempted to say, “yeah, ok, but what about this or that..?” Nana would respond (in her way) “Love your family.” There are no “buts”. She gave up a lot for her family when she was a teenager. There are people in this church right now who have sacrificed a lot for their family... maybe in the distant past, maybe in the recent past, maybe doing it right now. I see you in front of me. You have something in common with Nana and God love you for it. The rest of us are sure to be called upon to choose love of family over all else in the future. It’s what we’re supposed to do. May we do it as selflessly as Nana did. I hope each of you have many larger-than-life heroes in your lives. But in the days ahead, when you don’t need a super-hero, you’ll have Nana Gunn’s memory to show you how to love yourself and those around you each day, unconditionally, holding only the good inside and letting the rest go, knowing that everything is just as it’s supposed to be. Thank you.